130
stars
21
commits
3
linked in READMEs
Nov 21, 2025
updated
From Official Models to Lightx2v Distilled Optimized Versions - Balancing Quality, Speed and Memory

For VAE, the LightX2V team has conducted a series of deep optimizations, deriving two major series: LightVAE and LightTAE, which significantly reduce memory consumption and improve inference speed while maintaining high quality.
π Official VAEFeatures: Highest Quality βββββ β
Best reconstruction accuracy |
π Open Source TAE SeriesFeatures: Fastest Speed β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ β
Minimal memory usage (~0.4 GB) |
π― LightVAE Series (Our Optimization)Features: Best Balanced Solution βοΈ β
Uses Causal 3D Conv (same as official) |
β‘ LightTAE Series (Our Optimization)Features: Fast Speed + Good Quality π β
Minimal memory usage (~0.4 GB) |
| Model Name | Type | Architecture | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Wan2.1_VAE | Official VAE | Causal Conv3D | Wan2.1 official video VAE model Highest quality, large memory, slow speed |
taew2_1 | Open Source Small AE | Conv2D | Open source model based on taeHV Small memory, fast speed, average quality |
lighttaew2_1 | LightTAE Series | Conv2D | Our distilled optimized version based on taew2_1Small memory, fast speed, quality close to official β¨ |
lightvaew2_1 | LightVAE Series | Causal Conv3D | Our pruned 75% on WanVAE2.1 architecture then trained+distilled Best balance: high quality + low memory + fast speed π |
| Model Name | Type | Architecture | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Wan2.2_VAE | Official VAE | Causal Conv3D | Wan2.2 official video VAE model Highest quality, large memory, slow speed |
taew2_2 | Open Source Small AE | Conv2D | Open source model based on taeHV Small memory, fast speed, average quality |
lighttaew2_2 | LightTAE Series | Conv2D | Our distilled optimized version based on taew2_2Small memory, fast speed, quality close to official β¨ |
| Speed | Wan2.1_VAE | taew2_1 | lighttaew2_1 | lightvaew2_1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Speed | 4.1721 s | 0.3956 s | 0.3956 s | 1.5014s |
| Decode Speed | 5.4649 s | 0.2463 s | 0.2463 s | 2.0697s |
| GPU Memory | Wan2.1_VAE | taew2_1 | lighttaew2_1 | lightvaew2_1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Memory | 8.4954 GB | 0.00858 GB | 0.00858 GB | 4.7631 GB |
| Decode Memory | 10.1287 GB | 0.41199 GB | 0.41199 GB | 5.5673 GB |
Task: s2v(speech to video)
Model: seko-talk
|
Wan2.1_VAE |
taew2_1 |
lighttaew2_1 |
lightvaew2_1 |
| Speed | Wan2.2_VAE | taew2_2 | lighttaew2_2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Speed | 1.1369s | 0.3499 s | 0.3499 s |
| Decode Speed | 3.1268 s | 0.0891 s | 0.0891 s |
| GPU Memory | Wan2.2_VAE | taew2_2 | lighttaew2_2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Memory | 6.1991 GB | 0.0064 GB | 0.0064 GB |
| Decode Memory | 12.3487 GB | 0.4120 GB | 0.4120 GB |
Task: t2v(text to video)
Model: Wan2.2-TI2V-5B
|
Wan2.2_VAE |
taew2_2 |
lighttaew2_2 |
π Pursuing Best QualityRecommended:
|
βοΈ Best Balance πRecommended:
Use Cases: Daily production, strongly recommended β |
β‘ Speed + Quality Balance β¨Recommended:
Use Cases: Development testing, rapid iteration |
| Comparison | Open Source TAE | LightTAE (Ours) | Official VAE | LightVAE (Ours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Conv2D | Conv2D | Causal Conv3D | Causal Conv3D |
| Memory Usage | Minimal (~0.4 GB) | Minimal (~0.4 GB) | Large (~8-12 GB) | Medium (~4-5 GB) |
| Inference Speed | Extremely Fast β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ | Extremely Fast β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ | Slow β‘β‘ | Fast β‘β‘β‘β‘ |
| Generation Quality | Average βββ | Close to Official ββββ | Highest βββββ | Close to Official ββββ |
# Download Wan2.1 official VAE
huggingface-cli download lightx2v/Autoencoders \
--local-dir ./models/vae/
We provide a standalone script vid_recon.py to test VAE models independently. This script reads a video, encodes it through VAE, then decodes it back to verify the reconstruction quality.
Script Location: LightX2V/lightx2v/models/video_encoders/hf/vid_recon.py
git clone https://github.com/ModelTC/LightX2V.git
cd LightX2V
1. Test Official VAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/Wan2.1_VAE.pth \
--model_type vaew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
2. Test Official VAE (Wan2.2)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/Wan2.2_VAE.pth \
--model_type vaew2_2 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
3. Test LightTAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/lighttaew2_1.pth \
--model_type taew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
4. Test LightTAE (Wan2.2)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/lighttaew2_2.pth \
--model_type taew2_2 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
5. Test LightVAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/lightvaew2_1.pth \
--model_type vaew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16 \
--use_lightvae
6. Test TAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/taew2_1.pth \
--model_type taew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
7. Test TAE (Wan2.2)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/taew2_2.pth \
--model_type taew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
Specify the VAE path in the configuration file:
Using Official VAE Series:
{
"vae_path": "./models/vae/Wan2.1_VAE.pth"
}
Using LightVAE Series:
{
"use_lightvae": true,
"vae_path": "./models/vae/lightvaew2_1.pth"
}
Using LightTAE Series:
{
"use_tae": true,
"need_scaled": true,
"tae_path": "./models/vae/lighttaew2_1.pth"
}
Using TAE Series:
{
"use_tae": true,
"tae_path": "./models/vae/taew2_1.pth"
}
Then run the inference script:
cd LightX2V/scripts
bash wan/run_wan_i2v.sh # or other inference scripts
please refer to https://github.com/ModelTC/ComfyUI-LightVAE
If you find this project helpful, please give us a β on GitHub
20 commits
1 commits
130
stars
21
commits
3
linked in READMEs
Nov 21, 2025
updated
From Official Models to Lightx2v Distilled Optimized Versions - Balancing Quality, Speed and Memory

For VAE, the LightX2V team has conducted a series of deep optimizations, deriving two major series: LightVAE and LightTAE, which significantly reduce memory consumption and improve inference speed while maintaining high quality.
π Official VAEFeatures: Highest Quality βββββ β
Best reconstruction accuracy |
π Open Source TAE SeriesFeatures: Fastest Speed β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ β
Minimal memory usage (~0.4 GB) |
π― LightVAE Series (Our Optimization)Features: Best Balanced Solution βοΈ β
Uses Causal 3D Conv (same as official) |
β‘ LightTAE Series (Our Optimization)Features: Fast Speed + Good Quality π β
Minimal memory usage (~0.4 GB) |
| Model Name | Type | Architecture | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Wan2.1_VAE | Official VAE | Causal Conv3D | Wan2.1 official video VAE model Highest quality, large memory, slow speed |
taew2_1 | Open Source Small AE | Conv2D | Open source model based on taeHV Small memory, fast speed, average quality |
lighttaew2_1 | LightTAE Series | Conv2D | Our distilled optimized version based on taew2_1Small memory, fast speed, quality close to official β¨ |
lightvaew2_1 | LightVAE Series | Causal Conv3D | Our pruned 75% on WanVAE2.1 architecture then trained+distilled Best balance: high quality + low memory + fast speed π |
| Model Name | Type | Architecture | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Wan2.2_VAE | Official VAE | Causal Conv3D | Wan2.2 official video VAE model Highest quality, large memory, slow speed |
taew2_2 | Open Source Small AE | Conv2D | Open source model based on taeHV Small memory, fast speed, average quality |
lighttaew2_2 | LightTAE Series | Conv2D | Our distilled optimized version based on taew2_2Small memory, fast speed, quality close to official β¨ |
| Speed | Wan2.1_VAE | taew2_1 | lighttaew2_1 | lightvaew2_1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Speed | 4.1721 s | 0.3956 s | 0.3956 s | 1.5014s |
| Decode Speed | 5.4649 s | 0.2463 s | 0.2463 s | 2.0697s |
| GPU Memory | Wan2.1_VAE | taew2_1 | lighttaew2_1 | lightvaew2_1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Memory | 8.4954 GB | 0.00858 GB | 0.00858 GB | 4.7631 GB |
| Decode Memory | 10.1287 GB | 0.41199 GB | 0.41199 GB | 5.5673 GB |
Task: s2v(speech to video)
Model: seko-talk
|
Wan2.1_VAE |
taew2_1 |
lighttaew2_1 |
lightvaew2_1 |
| Speed | Wan2.2_VAE | taew2_2 | lighttaew2_2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Speed | 1.1369s | 0.3499 s | 0.3499 s |
| Decode Speed | 3.1268 s | 0.0891 s | 0.0891 s |
| GPU Memory | Wan2.2_VAE | taew2_2 | lighttaew2_2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Encode Memory | 6.1991 GB | 0.0064 GB | 0.0064 GB |
| Decode Memory | 12.3487 GB | 0.4120 GB | 0.4120 GB |
Task: t2v(text to video)
Model: Wan2.2-TI2V-5B
|
Wan2.2_VAE |
taew2_2 |
lighttaew2_2 |
π Pursuing Best QualityRecommended:
|
βοΈ Best Balance πRecommended:
Use Cases: Daily production, strongly recommended β |
β‘ Speed + Quality Balance β¨Recommended:
Use Cases: Development testing, rapid iteration |
| Comparison | Open Source TAE | LightTAE (Ours) | Official VAE | LightVAE (Ours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Conv2D | Conv2D | Causal Conv3D | Causal Conv3D |
| Memory Usage | Minimal (~0.4 GB) | Minimal (~0.4 GB) | Large (~8-12 GB) | Medium (~4-5 GB) |
| Inference Speed | Extremely Fast β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ | Extremely Fast β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘ | Slow β‘β‘ | Fast β‘β‘β‘β‘ |
| Generation Quality | Average βββ | Close to Official ββββ | Highest βββββ | Close to Official ββββ |
# Download Wan2.1 official VAE
huggingface-cli download lightx2v/Autoencoders \
--local-dir ./models/vae/
We provide a standalone script vid_recon.py to test VAE models independently. This script reads a video, encodes it through VAE, then decodes it back to verify the reconstruction quality.
Script Location: LightX2V/lightx2v/models/video_encoders/hf/vid_recon.py
git clone https://github.com/ModelTC/LightX2V.git
cd LightX2V
1. Test Official VAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/Wan2.1_VAE.pth \
--model_type vaew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
2. Test Official VAE (Wan2.2)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/Wan2.2_VAE.pth \
--model_type vaew2_2 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
3. Test LightTAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/lighttaew2_1.pth \
--model_type taew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
4. Test LightTAE (Wan2.2)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/lighttaew2_2.pth \
--model_type taew2_2 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
5. Test LightVAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/lightvaew2_1.pth \
--model_type vaew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16 \
--use_lightvae
6. Test TAE (Wan2.1)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/taew2_1.pth \
--model_type taew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
7. Test TAE (Wan2.2)
python -m lightx2v.models.video_encoders.hf.vid_recon \
input_video.mp4 \
--checkpoint ./models/vae/taew2_2.pth \
--model_type taew2_1 \
--device cuda \
--dtype bfloat16
Specify the VAE path in the configuration file:
Using Official VAE Series:
{
"vae_path": "./models/vae/Wan2.1_VAE.pth"
}
Using LightVAE Series:
{
"use_lightvae": true,
"vae_path": "./models/vae/lightvaew2_1.pth"
}
Using LightTAE Series:
{
"use_tae": true,
"need_scaled": true,
"tae_path": "./models/vae/lighttaew2_1.pth"
}
Using TAE Series:
{
"use_tae": true,
"tae_path": "./models/vae/taew2_1.pth"
}
Then run the inference script:
cd LightX2V/scripts
bash wan/run_wan_i2v.sh # or other inference scripts
please refer to https://github.com/ModelTC/ComfyUI-LightVAE
If you find this project helpful, please give us a β on GitHub
20 commits
1 commits